Asheville isnt bad to fly into, VFR or IFR. There are some hills around, but ATC and your eyes will keep you away. The FBO was bought by Millionaire?, but my parents moved an hoiur south a few years back. If you're worried about FBO expenses, Hendersonville is just a little further south of town.
You'll need a car to get around. Call ahead; I rented through the new AVL FBO at a decent price when I needed to.
If the mountains are socked in, keep going south to Rutherfordton (HVQ?), it's not too much further, has fuel and has served as my alternate. The one time I needed it, AVL was fogged in, the winds were strong and gusty, and their AWOS was down so I went to GSP, a little over an hour from AVL.